Elgato Wave:3 Review | Musician Nerd
Updated on Mar 16, 2022
Table of Contents
The Elgato Wave 3 is one of our favorite, most underrated microphones for streaming. It's not a microphone we see talked about often enough, but one we bring up time and time again thanks to its affordability, strong capabilities, and compatible software suite.
Elgato Wave:3 Sitting On Desktop Stand
Unlike many of the microphones we get to work with here at Musician Nerd, the Elgato Wave 3 is a very niche product. Built and delivered for a small segment of the microphone space, which has its pros and cons. We will be expecting it to deliver ten-fold for the streaming market, as it has lower versatility. And while being affordable, it's not the cheapest option in this niche space.
We're going to judge the Elgato Wave 3 for its price range, against comparable options, while testing its quality in physical durability, performance, and style. We'll go into what we enjoy about this microphone and then talk about any cons we've found. By the end of this article, you should have an idea of whether or not it's the microphone for you.
Why It's Great
The Elgato Wave 3 offers a unique, compact design that fits the aesthetic for those looking to kick off their streaming career. With an elegant architecture, you'll notice it uses a durable steel grille, offering smooth sound diffussion. Also important is that you can rely on the design to keep your microphone capsule protected.
Elgato Wave:3 Connected To Desktop For Streaming
The Elgato Wave 3 is a USB microphone, offering convenient plug-and-play functionality. The connectivity port follows the modern standard of USB Type-C. There's also a high-powered headphone output jack for zero-latency monitoring, allowing you to hear what your audience hears during your live streams.
One thing I look for in microphones like this are the on-mic functions. The Elgato Wave 3, like other USB options, comes with a variety of functions that prove useful for those in live settings, so that you can adjust your sound in real-time.
Elgato Wave:3 Showing Microphone Functions
There's a capacitive mute button, which silently disengages sound output. One common problem I've found with other microphones is that when you hit the mute button, there will be a loud pop sound, and when you're live streaming, it's not the most appealing sound for your audience.
There's also a multi-function dial that allows you to control the input gain of the Elgato Wave 3, and the output gain for your headphone port. It's a small detail but highly convenient. You'll also be able to control the crossfade between mic & PC mix with the same dial.
While the Elgato Wave 3 comes with a pop filter, for minimizing plosive noise, the inside of the capsule is built with a multilayered noise shield to offer extra support. The internal components consist of a premium condenser capsule, that records vocal audio with precision.
What It's Good For
The most obvious function for the Elgato Wave 3 would be for audio streaming. It was designed for creators looking to do voiceover work, whether it's for live streaming or recording videos. It uses a cardioid polar pattern, which will record audio from the front of the capsule, fine tuned for speech.
Our own tests of the microphone found it to offer high quality recordings, in part thanks to the internal circuitry. The digital conversion rate is 24-bit / 96kHz, which is the high end standard for microphone audio sampling.
Elgato Wave:3 Box Kit
My favorite feature that Elgato offers, however, is their Wave Link software. This intuitive software gives you the ultimate control over your streaming content, giving you up to nine channels to be used for a variety of purposes. While one channel will be used to control your Wave 3 microphone, the other 8 can support music, game audio, sound effects, and more. While you're actively engaging your audience in your live stream, you'll be able to mix your audio in real-time.
The best part about this, however, is the ability to seperate your output from what your audience hears. Maybe you want them to hear loud music, but you want to hear your own voice instead, you'll be able to lower the music volume for just yourself. Talk about control!
The Downsides
The first major downside I have with the Elgato Wave 3 is the lack of versatility. For many of you, this won't be an issue. Maybe you're here because you're looking for the best microphone for streaming, and in that case, you're in good hands. But one of the alternatives that we'll talk about in a moment is the Blue Yeti, which I've seen used for more than just the streaming market. They both have their own pros and cons, however.
The other downside applies to many microphones in this price range. The audio isn't perfect, and there are other options out there for you to consider if you have a higher budget, like the Shure SM7B.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Compact & Durable
- USB / Plug-And-Play
- Wave Link Software
Cons
- Very Niche
Best Used For
- Streaming
- Gaming
- YouTube
Alternatives
The Audio-Technica AT2005USB+ comes in around half the price of the Elgato Wave 3. If you're looking to keep your spending to a minimum, it's worth checking out.
Audio-Technica AT2005USB+ On Desktop Stand
The Audio-Technica AT2005USB+ doesn't have nearly the range of features as the Elgato Wave 3, nor is the sound as good, but its certainly an impressive microphone for speech in this price range. Audio-Technica are a favorite brand of mine for affordable mics, as they focus on audio quality above all else for their consumers.
It may not have all the bells and whistles, nor is it the most stylish microphone on the market, but for those on a budget, it's the perfect alternative.
The Blue Yeti is once again a popular choice for an alternative microphone. If you've read some of our other reviews, it shouldn't be much of a surprise as Blue dominates the affordable USB market for good reason.
Blue Yeti X With Box Contents
Just like the Elgato Wave 3, you'll get a whole host of features with the Blue Yeti. They offer convenient on-mic controls for live streaming, as well as premium capsule quality for the best sound input. The convenience of USB plug-and-play is one thing they're widely known for. Better yet, depending on where your budget lies, they offer multiple grades of this microphone line, so you can find the best one for your individual needs!
The Blue Yeti is always going to be a strong contender for USB options within this price range. If you have a little room in your budget, check out what they have to offer!
Summary
The Elgato Wave 3 has a lot of positive features going for it, from a design standpoint, robust features, and high-quality performance. The icing on the cake for me would have to be the Elgato Wave Link software. Although it may be compatible with other USB microphones, it was designed to be used with Elgato Wave line microphones.
There's a lot of competition on the streaming market, and finding a good microphone with powerful features will help you in more ways than you know. While there are many good mics out there, we think the Elgato Wave 3 is a strong competitor for this price.
If you go ahead and purchase the Elgato Wave 3, we want to hear your thoughts! Our team is one small chunk of the market, and we love to hear from our audience what their opinions are. It allows us to better serve you by offering more refined microphones that we think you will want. Good luck!
Posted on Apr 13, 2021
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